Bitcoin’s Biggest Miner Trades 10,599 $BTC for an AI Gold Rush 🤖

Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms sold 10,599 $BTC in the third quarter and secured a 15-year AI infrastructure lease valued at approximately $28 billion, part of an accelerated pivot from cryptocurrency mining to data centers. The agreement covers 910 megawatts at Riot’s Corsicana, Texas, facility, bringing total future contracted data center revenue to approximately $38 billion across three leases signed this year.

According to Riot’s November 4 report, holdings fell from 11,380 $BTC in June to 2,418 $BTC in September after sales exceeded the 1,637 $BTC mined during the quarter. Riot has sold around $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin since the beginning of 2026, totaling 20,264 coins, with most of the proceeds used to build data centers. By the end of September, the company held $748.2 million in cash and $202 million in Bitcoin assets.

The AI tenant, identified as Anthropic in Riot’s quarterly filing, will own and operate the computing equipment and cover operating expenses, while Riot supplies the land and power infrastructure originally developed for Bitcoin mining. Riot estimates total capital costs of $5.5 billion, financed primarily through debt backed by lease payments, although financing has not yet been secured. The first phase is expected to be delivered in September 2027, with rental payments beginning within 60 days of delivery.

“A year ago, our cash flow depended on the price of Bitcoin, and now, at full deployment of currently executed deals, nearly all of our expected cash flow will be generated from long-term leases with leading players in the AI ecosystem,” CEO Jason Les said during Wednesday’s earnings call. Les also said Bitcoin mining at Corsicana could begin winding down in summer 2027.

Riot reported third-quarter revenue of $181.4 million, up 1% year over year, while Bitcoin mining revenue fell nearly 28% to $116 million from $160.8 million in the same period of the previous year. Data centers contributed $18.4 million and engineering contributed $47 million, while net income dropped to $4.03 million. Shares of RIOT climbed over 10% to $15.49 on Wednesday, extending Tuesday’s 18.41% rally.

Fellow Bitcoin miner Hut 8 saw its shares plunge more than 22% at one point Wednesday after third-quarter revenue fell 15% to $71.1 million, missing analysts’ estimates of $75.8 million, according to MarketBeat data. CFO Sean Glennan attributed the decline partly to asset sales and lower revenue per Bitcoin mined, while cash administrative expenses rose year over year. “The legacy revenue base is no longer the main growth driver, while the larger contracted infrastructure revenues remain tied to delivery milestones,” Glennan said. CEO Asher Genoot described the AI construction challenge: “Many of today’s data centers resemble NASA rocket programs—remarkable engineering, but complex, expensive, and slow to deliver.”